So start by telling yourself the truth . Pardon the drill sergeant for a moment , but take a few minutes and repeat after me :
You had the time . You just didn ’ t take it .
You had a chance to get it done . You just didn ’ t do it .
So the first step to focusing your time is to start telling the truth about time . Stop saying you don ’ t have the time . Start admitting you didn ’ t make it .
Excerpted from At Your Best : How to Get Time , Energy , and Priorities Working in Your Favor . Copyright 2021 by Carey Nieuwhof Communications Limited . Used by permission of WaterBrook , an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC .
You were able to finish it . You just didn ’ t .
You could have . But you chose not to .
It ’ s not impossible . You just didn ’ t make the time .
You ’ re opting to not meet .
You ’ re deciding to not work out .
You ’ re choosing to not go to the school play .
And there , you admitted it . To yourself .
I realize that ’ s a pretty brutal level of honesty , but truth can be such a good friend . After all , of all the lies we tell , the lies we tell ourselves are most deadly . I don ’ t know how to state how revolutionary telling the truth about time has been for me .
Carey Nieuwhof is an in-demand speaker and the founding pastor of Connexus Church . He now hosts one of today ’ s most influential leadership podcasts and is the author of several books including Didn ’ t See It Coming and At Your Best : How to Get Time , Energy , and Priorities Working in Your Favor . Carey and his wife , Toni , live north of Toronto .
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